Advantages of Laparoscopic Assisted Colorectal Surgery at a VA Hospital
Background: The safety and efficacy of laparoscopic assisted colectomy has been demonstrated in several trials and has become an accepted means for the surgical management of benign and malignant colorectal disease. We provided a laparoscopic colorectal surgery option to our veteran population at the Indianapolis VA beginning in 2007.
Methods: Retrospective analysis of 126 subjects comparing our experience in performing laparoscopic assisted colorectal surgery and open colorectal operations performed between June 2006 to May 2008. Demographic data and perioperative data was collected for both operations from hospital and outpatient records. Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t-test with a p-value of < 0.05 to demonstrate statistical significance.
Results: see table
Conclusions: Laparoscopic colorectal surgery approach can be used safely, efficaciously, and may be beneficial when used to treat colorectal diseases in the veteran population at the Indianapolis VA. The tangible benefits provided by laparoscopic colorectal surgery include, a trend toward a reduction in the following: operative time, overall length of stay, blood loss, and ICU length of stay; while maintaining the required national standard for number of resected lymph nodes. We believe that laparoscopic colorectal surgery can be offered to veterans at VA medical center
Session: Poster
Program Number: P189